A baseball game often resembles an oversized picnic. This is particularly so in the early innings, when not much is at stake and the assembly is focused on unwinding, greeting, chatting, and eating. But every so often the skies usher in a show that makes everyone take notice, and tonight was such a night.

The storm arrived swiftly, sending the players underground and the fans to higher, drier ground. There, beneath the overhangs, brought tight by the rain, they shrieked at every lightning strike like kids at a horror film.

Some two hours later, the game resumed, and one of the two teams won. But the star of the night was a storm that made us all pay attention--if only for a while.